UK HOLIDAY VISA

1.
Posted byEJDM88(Budding Member 11 posts) 4y
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Hi there,

Im trying to figure out all this visa stuff - confusing!

I want to travel from Australia to London (which is where Ill be based) in March 2014, but I also want to travel around Europe for 1 - 2 years (not working).

All I can see online is an option for a 6 months UK visa.

How does it work if you want to stay longer than 6 months?

Also once you are in England do you have to do anything to travel in and out , eg to France for say 4 weeks then back to London for a few days etc

Thanks so much! Edwina

2.
Posted byKellieBarnes(Travel Guru 813 posts) 4y
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Hi Edwina,

The visa you need is the Schengen Visa. As it says in the guide, Australians do not need to apply for it ahead of time but travel within the zone is restricted to a maximum of 3 months in any 6 month period. This is when you would need to travel back to the UK.

Travelling for that length of time in Europe and the UK without working will also be difficult (read: costly). I would recommend getting a Youth Mobility visa as that would at least allow you to top up funds with work and stay in the UK for up to 2 years.

Cheers,Kellie

3.
Posted byEJDM88(Budding Member 11 posts) 4y
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Hi Kellie, Thanks so much for the information. I am extremely blonde with all this Visa stuff and I just cant seem to get my head around it haha! Perhaps its a good idea to get a travel agent to do it all for me haha. I've been saving for many years and I have $95,000.00 AUD which, going by my research, should well and truly cover me. What do you think?

4.
Posted byKellieBarnes(Travel Guru 813 posts) 4y
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Goodness! Put a deposit on a house while you can!

Umm... that seems like a lot, although I am uncertain of monthly rental costs and it will depend on the European countries you visit as well—some can be significantly more expensive than others.

First step will be to work out which European countries you want to visit and whether they are in the Schengen zone or not. After that you can start working out how to split your time as described above and apply for the visas to the countries not in the zone.